Chaparral swimming shifts focus from championships to group

Chaparral High School swimmers heat up for his or her first swim meet of the season. The workforce is weighing the stability between the high-stakes competitors of membership swimming and the low-key camaraderie of highschool sports activities. (Photo by Carmen Liberto/Cronkite News)

SCOTTSDALE – For a long time, Chaparral High School was among the many packages that set the usual for Arizona highschool swimming. It claims 19 state workforce championships between the girls and boys packages whereas producing greater than 75 collegiate swimmers.

For the final 5 years, Russell Krzyzanowski was the top coach after changing his brother Richard Krzyzanowski in 2020.

Last summer time, Russell Krzyzanowski was launched as head coach of Chaparral swim on account of teaching variations with the college and was changed by Edward Hadley, together with a completely recent teaching employees.

Now, with new management and a shifting tradition, Chaparral illustrates a broader query in relation to Arizona swimming: Should highschool packages prioritize competitors and development or focus extra on the group and satisfaction that make workforce sports activities significant?

High faculty athletics and membership sports activities usually conflict due to the dedication they require from younger athletes, who are sometimes caught in the course of the tug-o-war.

When Hadley took over this season, he inherited a program with a proud legacy however one in a interval of transition. The change hasn’t been simple for anybody concerned in this system.

“It’s a bit rocky, but it hasn’t been that bad,” senior Peyton Schmidtke mentioned. “He’s new to high school swimming, so there’s a lot to learn. But he jumped in the water with us, full clothes, just to correct form. That’s something none of our other coaches ever did.”

Hadley’s philosophy of swimming is totally different from earlier coaches, present swimmers say. He doesn’t prioritize profitable each meet.

“The goal is for every kid to have fun and meet long-term friends,” he mentioned. “For some, that’s making state. For others, it’s learning a new stroke. Club is the path if you want to swim in college. But if your goal is fun and connection, high school is enough.”

For athletes, the road between membership and highschool swimming is obvious.

Sophomore Gianna Sgouros mentioned membership swimming is taken very severely as a result of it must be. Success on the membership degree is commonly a ticket to a school swim program.

“High school is more for us to relax and kind of have fun,” Sgouros mentioned.

The seniors on the workforce agreed that membership swimming is essential for these aspiring to compete on the subsequent degree, because of the particular person nature of it.

“High school is a team sport. If you want to swim in college, club is more important,” mentioned Chaparral senior Henderson Bradstock. “High school is just fun and with your school friends.”

However, balancing the 2 may be exhausting to highschool college students doing each without delay. Club observe requires dedication after faculty, earlier than faculty and even weekends to some.

For years, Chaparral had outlined dominance in highschool swimming. Now, with a brand new coach, the purpose has shifted to specializing in having extra enjoyable and experiencing the workforce side of the game.

Senior Caitlyn Gill mentioned this 12 months is about rebuilding a brand new legacy as a result of the Firebirds are much less fearful about profitable state and focusing extra on being a part of a workforce.

In Russell Krzyzanowski’s view, Chaparral’s challenges are a part of a much bigger situation in Arizona swimming: the rising affect of membership coaches. He emphasised that top faculty swimming must be taken as severely because the membership sport.

Chaparral’s story is an instance of the crossroads at which Arizona highschool swimming and membership swimming discover themselves.

For some, like Hadley and his Chaparral swimmers, highschool competitors is about camaraderie, stability and the sensation of group.

For others, like Russell Krzyzanowski, it’s about defending a legacy and resisting the pull of membership politics.

If membership swimming is the trail to particular person development, and highschool swimming is the trail to a way of belonging and group, discovering a stability between the 2 may decide the well being of the game going ahead, many consultants consider.

“Too often, athletes are told high school swimming doesn’t matter and (are) pressured to focus only on club,” Russell Krzyzanowski mentioned in a textual content message. “That mindset creates a toxic environment, damages mental health, and robs kids of the joy of competing with their school teams.”